Book Description
Powerful and empathetic performance in character animation requires far more from the animator than an ability to manipulate pixels or draw characters. You must have a strong understanding of the relationship between thinking, emotion and physical action plus dynamic scene construction. Renowned for his now-classic Acting for Animators, Ed Hooks shows you in Acting in Animation what best-practice performance principles look like on celluloid.
Keyed for use with the DVD versions of twelve animated films and loaded with spot-on analysis, acting tips, and valuable insight, Acting in Animation is like sitting down with Ed Hooks to watch the movies. Ed breaks each one down sequence by sequence and gives you useful notes on how the animators of classics successfully imbued their characters with feeling. You'll see firsthand how attending to essential acting principles like choice, negotiation, conflict, and empathy creates unforgettable characters and believable storylines. Hooks also deconstructs some not-so classics to illustrate how by neglecting good acting technique the filmmakers missed opportunities to have their characters bond with the audience.
Want to make your animation more powerful? Go to the movies with Ed Hooks. Read Acting in Animation and find out how quality acting inspires great animation.
Customer Reviews:
A Fine Companion to the Original.......2007-01-16
This book is strictly a companion to Ed Hooks' Acting for Animators. It shows how the author's principles of animated acting are (or are not) applied on a DVD chapter-by-chapter basis for 12 animated features. Similar to the breakdown of The Iron Giant at the end of the original book.
Hooks' teachings are great food for thought when it comes to not just creating a quality animated performance, but in the writing of the scene the performance exists in. The films examined cover a fairly wide range. Mostly recent films, but a few older ones. Largely Disney, but also some Pixar and Studio Ghibli as well. All the films (with the possible exception of Pinocchio) are fairly easy to get a DVD of.
The only peeve I have with this book is a few instances of poor proof-reading when characters are referred to by the wrong names. In Monsters Inc. Sully is called Randal a couple times, Woody is twice referred to as Andy in Toy Story 2, and in Tarzan, Sabor the leopard is called a tiger. (Not as big a problem, just annoying.)
If you haven't read Acting for Animators, don't get this book just yet. If you have, this is the perfect way to see Hooks' lessons in practice.
Product Description
The finest tenor banjo method available, this text represents Mel Bay's own approach to fundamental musicianship for those desiring to play tenor banjo. This book is the standard by which others are judged. Easy-to-understand and thorough in its approach, this method addresses both melody playing and chord strumming. Through numerous studies, folk songs and several duets, students are systematically introduced to the various notes and positions on the tenor banjo fretboard. Photos of the fretboard fingertips aid in learning the proper hand positions. Once in two volumes, this method is now presented it its entirety in this single comprehensive edition. In notation only.
Book Description
BradyGames’ Xenosaga EPISODE III: Also sprach Zarathustra Signature Series Guide includes the following:
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A comprehensive walkthrough of the entire adventure.
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Detailed area maps.
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Extensive item and equipments lists.
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Expert boss strategies to defeat even the toughest enemy.
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In-depth bestiary.
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Signature Series guide includes an exclusive foldout, bonus content and more!
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Role-Playing Game
This product is available for sale in North America only.
Customer Reviews:
one of the best.......2007-03-15
Xenosage is one of the best roll playing games I have ever played. The story is unfolded over three episodes which allows for great character development. The story line is wonderful and kept me never let me down. I would say it is a must for anyone who likes roll playing and quest games. I will playing it again. This guide was very helpful and full of hidden secrets and information that helped me in my quest to get everything I could out of the game.
Good guide.......2007-01-14
This guide contains everthing a guide should have except one maps! MAPS! MAPS! It contains absolutely no maps! But everything else is well done. Overview of storyline, character strengths, weaknesses, and abilities. The guide itself is also good and contains absolutely no spoilers. It has good tips for bosses. In the back details all side quests and missions that can be completed as you play through the main story line. And man does this game contain one heck of a story line just like the first two!! Gotta love Xenosaga! Overall a good investment!
Xenosaga Episode III: Also Sprach Zarathustra Signature Series Guide .......2007-01-06
great game. I am still playing.
Game Guides are always handy little things. .......2007-01-06
As far as game guides go, this one is all right. Though for its size, it's not as extensive as I expected. The layout is good, and I like the graphics. Very detailed and high quality, though the screenshots from the game itself are rather small. Though graphics also take up a lot of page space. The list of ethers in full is repeated for each character, when it could have been listed on one page. Not all the characters need to know every spell available in the game.
But as far as character info goes, there's some good information about how to customize your characters, but for me, it was only a spring board to really working with them. Don't hesitate to get creative.
The boss information is top notch, and if you follow the information, you won't get any surprises on the battlefield. A few fights recommended the use of Erde Kaiser ethers, which seem like an easy way to go, and not all of the characters are suited to actually casting Erde Kaiser, making it a waste of precious ether points. Luckily, the guide does offer alternatives to Erde Kaiser, which makes things longer, but more interesting.
As previously mentioned in other reviews, there are no spoilers unless you look ahead and are actually surprised to be going to, say, Abel's Ark. Locations shouldn't be a shock for anyone familiar with the Xenosaga fandom, and while I wouldn't recommend using Episode III as your introduction, it is possible.
There is complete information about the Segment files and where to find the doors, decoders, and what each item is inside. The same can be said for database updates, though my database is 2% short of being complete, and it's frustrating trying to figure out where my missing information might be.
While boss information is top notch, a little more detail about the area encounters would be helpful. Maps, too. Some of these areas can be a real maze. I spent a long time wandering around Labrynthos, and some areas near the end have confusing layouts, and I sometimes just walked in circles. Maps would also help in pinpointing the locations of items on the map.
A guide to the mini-game HaKox would also be appreciated. While I can only thing of one or two instances where you have to at least try the game out to advance the story, you can get some nice items (including Jr.'s ultimate weapon and Ziggy's swimsuit *shudder*) for completing certain levels. But some tips for making combos, or even levels in general, would have been helpful. There's nothing more than a paragraph on this particular part of the game.
If you're pretty familiar with the Xenosaga series and completed the previous games with some depth, you could probably get by without the guide. But if you're a stickler for finishing EVERYTHING, you may want the guide. It's also good thing to have nearby if you're new to the games.
Maps will be helpful; a bit overpriced........2006-12-24
Overall, the guide is helpful and the information contained complete. However, the guide directs you toward important items and chests in the form of large-font texts, which vexed and taxed me. The lack of maps these days in Brady guides is already becoming a trend for games other than the FF series...
If this guide is robbed of its useless character pics, and the font size shrunk to 12, the guide would only be about 10~20 pages thick...and should be priced accordingly!
Honestly, this game is so easy and maps so linear you don't need a guide. If you're concerned about secret quests, puzzles, or final weapons, all the info you ever need is available online.
Book Description
BradyGames' Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse Official Strategy Guide includes the following:
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Character Skills Listing: Complete rundown of every character skill in the game–including the hidden ones!
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A.M.W.S. Data: Learn about the essentials of A.M.W.S operation.
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Extensive Side Event Coverage: Complete Coverage of the Good Samaritan Side Quest, the Segment files, and much more.
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Obliterate Every Boss!: Devastate every mechanized boss with game-tested strategies and tactics.
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Area Maps: Detailed area maps and item callouts for every area in the game.
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Exclusive Foldout: Learn the intricacies of the Character Skill Tree!
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Plus Much More: Enemy Data, Complete Item Listing, and more!
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Role-Playing Game
This product is available for sale in North America only.
Customer Reviews:
Any guides by brady Games is good..........2007-09-12
The best guides the buy are by Brady Games...they are the most helpful when stuck in a game...they stend to include lots of picures unlike some of the other guides. The signature series look espicially sharp!
Not one of the best but gets you through.......2006-08-30
I'm not a big fan of stradegy guides. But I sure know what's a good one. This book has alot of tips and good boss stradegies, such as enemy data and HP, type weakness, break zones, etc. However, I feel uncomfortable with the layout of the maps and how the key works. It's a bit confusing. Especially with the location of the items and sometimes I wonder why the GS quests couldn't have been put at the end of each section instead of making me flip all the way back to the book. It's a hassle there because most, if not all new proceedings in the next stage, a couple of new GS campaigns are avalible and it's very annoying to always flip to the back of the book and wondering which GS route you have to do.
Also, there are confusing instructions making it almost impossible to find out what they're trying to make you do. Those are just one of the two major things that irks me. (It's not that bad but it's still confusing if you skip the key.) All in all, it gets you through the game, has amazingly good heads-up on notes you should keep in mind, and it has a lovely fold out poster. But I think you can get through the game just fine without it, it's just that it gets you through puzzles quicker. I'm one of those people who really hates game puzzles.
Great Shape, Fast Shipping.......2006-07-27
I received the product in under a week after I ordered it. It was received in bubble wrap and is in very good condition; there weren't even any creases on the binding. I would not have expected to find a copy in a bookstore in this great a condition.
Quality and Quickness.......2006-07-26
I got this strategy guid because I love playing these video games. I could have bought the strategy guide for 16.99 in store, but I bought it cheaper through amazon even with the cost of shipping. I got it in a few days and it was in excellent condition. My hats off to everyone involved in sending my package.
Hits the important points.......2006-04-10
If you're like me, you don't always get the time to really sit and explore an RPG to it's fullest. Despite my best attempts at playing a game straight through without help, I always find information that proves that there was A LOT I missed out on.
The game guide for Xenosaga II is a big help. The game has a huge back story, and sometimes it's easy to get caught up in it and forget that you have a battle system to master and a strategy to work out. This is a good guide to walking you through some of the basics of using the battle system, which is completely different from the first game.
What I liked best about this guide is that you usually get a really good solid strategy for boss fights. Although whoever wrote this guide must have not had the struggle I had with a few bosses. A lot of the main enemies you fight are pretty tough, and it's really easy for your party to suffer some serious losses, and the guide doesn't offer much advice for survival.
If you're not sure what an area is going to be like, this guide may give you a few pointers as to who would be best for the party based on their general skills. There are also a few pointers on the best way to customize your characters, although I found that they didn't recommend a few abilities for some characters that I felt were very important.
One frustrating thing is that there are 3 hidden bosses in the game, and the book only mentions them and gives NO INFORMATION on their stats, only where to find them. These bosses are the hardest that you'll fight in the game, and it's a real pain to have to restart over and over again when you get beaten to a pulp in less than a minute. You'll have to go online and search yourself for the most useful information on these bosses.
The book does offer a good, detailed walkthrough for the Robot Academy Scenario. There is also information on the Segment Addresses, the G.S. campaign, and a list and description of abilities, items and Ethers. Their side quest information is good and the best source for those who want to complete EVERYTHING in a game.
Overall, it's a good game guide. Not the best, but still a good item to have if you're playing the game and getting frustrated.
Book Description
BradyGames' Xenosaga Official Strategy Guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough, including detailed maps that pinpoint key items. A complete bestiary plus expert boss strategy to ensure victory in each battle. Mini-game coverage reveals winning tactics. Weapon and item lists include inventory of every ability, weapon, accessory, and item in the game. Game secrets and more revealed!
Customer Reviews:
Any Guide by brady games is good..........2007-09-12
The best guides the buy are by Brady Games...they are the most helpful when stuck in a game...they stend to include lots of picures unlike some of the other guides.
Great guide! Great game!.......2005-09-26
Very good guide with little flaws! The only thing that the guide missed was that it did not inform you to protect yourself from "instant KO" from the Demon enemy inside Proto Merkabah! Other than that it was great. Good boss strategies, good pictures/ illustrations and directions if you get lost on where to go. very accurate and complete lists of all items/abilities/accessories. This guide explains the basics of the game very thoroughly also so it is useful in that sense and if you bought the game used like I did or if you rent games, in which my copy did not have the instruction manual, you can get all the necessary info from this guide! So, I definitely recommend this guide to anyone who wants to get the most from this great game! Also, guide gives good explanation and rewards from the games side quests and games.
Great Guide.......2005-08-05
I think everything to know about xenosaga episode 1 is in this guide. I'm just about ready for episode 2 and I'll get the guide for that too.
One of Dan Birlew's better Strategy Guides.......2004-02-04
I recommend this strategy guide to those who plan on playing the game. It is true that you can beat the game without a guide. However, the game has plenty of side quests and important (but optional) items to collect that the chances of you finding them all is very unlikely without some sort of guide.
Also, the characters in the game are highly customizable. Meaning, you can manipulate their attributes to your preference. The problem is that the process for doing that is not readily obvious. And there are many ways to go about doing so. Some "bonus" items will be impossible to obtain accidentally, and some require that you make certain decisions, in the right order, in the right place, at the proper time. This strategy guide will help you get the most out of the game.
My only minor complaint is that the quality of the paper used in the cover could have been better. And that criticism also apply to most of the newer game guides out there. I prefer the covers to be made of heavier weight material, for example. I am picky, perhaps, because I collect these guides.
A MAJOR Help!.......2004-01-20
As far as strategy guides go, I'm more concerned with how its going to get me through the game, and also if it can get me through the game with ease. That's the MAIN point of a guide is to get you through the game. The Xenosaga Official Strategy Guide does this with ease. There are a couple of gripes present but otherwise very nice.
The first thing I noticed about the guide were the first about 60 pages of the guide are dedicated to a few of the miscellaneous things. The game basics and such. This may not seem like much but the guide explains the basics of the game a lot more clearly than the instruction booklet does.
Character profiles are great. They tell you when characters learn techs in an easy to use chart and they also give a small bio for them without spoiling what their main role is in the quest!
An weapon/armor/item list is availible. Easy to use table that tells you what you should buy and what you probably shouldn't. We all know that in Xenosaga you could spend quite a bit of money and you don't get much. This guide will help you save your money.
A.G.W.S data for them all. This also suggest what you should and shouldn't buy for them, as well as who should pilot them and what attacks you should focus on using.
The walkthrough was perhaps the most helpful part of this guide. This is where a couple of my small gripes come in but believe me they're very small. The walkthrough is easy to use and here's a nice thing to do in using this guide, while a movie scene from the game is playing take the time to read the guide. You'll notice that a lot of the info is extremely helpful.
Most noticeable are the boss strategies. These are VERY helpful strategies but this is where my first gripe with the guide comes in. The boss strategies are extremely helpful on offense. It's great to know what you can do to the boss but it would also be nice if they told me what the boss could do to me in return. Other than that these strategies are unbeatable.
Before you begin each section you'll see a list of enemies, maps with a very handy key, and a step-by-step objective and items list. VERY helpful walkthrough.
My second gripe is minor depending on how you use the guide. The screenshots aren't always clear. Some are rather fuzzy (the smaller ones). It's also nice that with each new area you come to there are mini-bios for the characters who you'll meet there. So the guide is very imformative. The best part? The guide has NO spoilers to the amazing story that unfolds!
Now for those mini-games, side-quests and secrets. The guide will help you to understand the mini-games and play them to success. If you're like me you don't play mini-games much. The guide also covers just about every secret and sidequests there is, again it doesn't spoil the plot.
Clearly this is an extremely helpful guide. You'll love the guide. It's great to use for the game. Just remember that you won't know what to expect from EVERY boss (there's one that can kill you in one hit and the guide WON'T point it out).
Book Description
BradyGames' Xenosaga EPISODE II Limited Edition Strategy Guide includes the following:
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Reveals game secrets to complete sidequests and defeat hidden bosses.
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Complete walkthrough, enhanced by area maps.
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Character profiles, with tips on how to equip and customize each major character.
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A.G.W.S. data includes everything gamers need to know about the powerful battle craft.
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Complete mini game coverage.
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Signature Series includes bonus content, an exclusive foldout and more!
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Bonus CD featuring music from game’s original soundtrack, composed by Yuki Kajiura. The music style is mostly electronic and upbeat, although it does also include some symphonic songs as well.
Platform: PlayStation 2
Genre: Role-Playing Game
This product is available for sale in North America only.
Customer Reviews:
Xenosaga.......2007-01-21
The Xenosaga Strategy Guide came with an outer protective cover (which was nice as it keeps the book from getting destroyed) and a sound track; although the sound track was not something I personally cared for. The book was well-written; it gives you the information needed to get through the game. I gave it three stars because it is just the typical strategy guide.
Great Content... Poor actual production quality.......2005-08-09
Long time Amazonian, first time reviewer.
I normally don't have a whole lot to say and that's why I don't send in reviews. But I just had to after buying this several months back.
I was very excited that (1) the game was coming out and (2) there was going to be a special limited edition version of the guide with a Music CD and Posters and the like. I had preordered this and everything, I finally get it and start playing the game and right about 15 minutes into it the binding gives and pages are falling out all over the place. At first it was only the first few pages of the start of the game portion of the guide but after a few minutes they were just leaping off the cheap glue binding. By the time I beat the game it was the whole book of many pages just being held together by the slightly nifty fold-over flap that is part of the cover.
I'll admit, it was actually convenient at times having the ability to place pages from different areas of the book together but it was still a pain keeping them in order.
So if your looking for a quality book like I'd prefer you'll want to stay away from this but otherwise if you'd like to buy something thats just gonna fall apart in to pieces, this might just be what your looking for.
Xenosaga.......2005-07-28
If you like Xenosaga you will like this guide. It has a different cover from the normal guide. And it came with a CD with the game music. It is really worth your maoney, So go for it!
The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent.......2005-02-27
This guide has the misfortune of being a bit better than the game it was created for. As a result, even an adequate guide suffers from the company it keeps. There are fully descriptive sections on the characters, their defense systems, as well as a detailed walk through complete with maps. Unfortunately, if you follow the walk through, your $50 console game will take about 20 hours to complete (not counting some long script episodes) and you won't be a happy camper. Slightly longer if you follow all the mini-games.
On the other hand, without the guide the game will take forever to play, as you suffer the contunual frustration of figuring out the complicated battle system and some of the more obscure sidequests. So yes, you will benefit from the guide, just try to use it as little as possible or it will spoil the game rather than enhance it. I found the sidequest information particularily helpful. Oddly enough I followed this strategy and thus missed a several oversights in the instructions for some subquests. It was only when I went through the guide carefully that I discovered them, and it is a misstep that will keep you from completing an entire side quest. You can still finish the game, but slightly irritated.
Outside of that, this is one of the best guides I've seen in a while. It's printed on solid paperstock with excellent graphics and writing. Sometimes the battle instructions get a bit vague, but for the most part, a lot of information is presented in an effective manner. There are a few glitches and you are sometimes guided into approaching a boss battle the long way around when a more direct, brutal approach would actually be as effective.
Because of the mentioned problem I have to give this a three star rating, although although everything else is excellent. Be warned if you decide to buy it.
Product Description
Rare limited prnted 45 Glossy pages of concept art, bios, 3D renders and location art from Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra. Brand new
Product Description
LIMITED EDITION VERSION. SOFTCOVER. STILL SHRINKWRAPPED IN PLASTIC. NEVER OPENED.
Book Description
BradyGames' Xenosaga Official Strategy Guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough, including detailed maps that pinpoint key items. A complete bestiary plus expert boss strategy to ensure victory in each battle. Mini-game coverage reveals winning tactics. Weapon and item lists include inventory of every ability, weapon, accessory, and item in the game. Game secrets and more revealed!
From the Back Cover
BradyGames' Xenosaga Official Strategy Guide provides a comprehensive walkthrough, including detailed maps that pinpoint key items. A complete bestiary plus expert boss strategy to ensure victory in each battle. Mini-game coverage reveals winning tactics. Weapon and item lists include inventory of every ability, weapon, accessory, and item in the game. Game secrets and more revealed!
Average customer rating:
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Television Program Master Index: Access to Critical and Historical Information on 1002 Shows in 341 Books
Charles V. Dintrone
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Movies
| Entertainment
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General
| Television
| Entertainment
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| Shows
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General
| Bibliographies & Indexes
| Publishing & Books
| Reference
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Art & Photography
| Bibliographies & Indexes
| Publishing & Books
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ASIN: 0786401508 |
Book Description
This work makes the television researcher's job easier by providing a single index to 334 books that include information on nearly 1,000 shows. Most of the books deal exclusively with television, though some autobiographies, biographies, Congressional hearings, and works on communication and the media are also indexed.
Books:
- Adaptations: From Short Story to Big Screen: 35 Great Stories That Have Inspired Great Films
- Adobe Premiere Elements for Dummies
- All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards
- American History And Contemporary Hollywood Film
- Blade Runner: The Inside Story
- Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me
- Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood
- Channels of Desire: Mass Images and the Shaping of American Consciousness
- Cinema Nirvana: Enlightenment Lessons from the Movies
- Cinema: The Archaeology of Film and the Memory of A Century (Talking Images)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Pay It Down! : From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day
- Concrete Countertops: Design, Form, and Finishes for the New Kitchen and Bath
- The Understructure of Writing for Film and Television
- Uncommon Clay
- Active Directory, 3rd Edition
- Eleven Minutes: A Novel
- Biology of the Red Algae
- Working Papers, Chapters 1-16 for Gilbertson/Lehman/Ross' Century 21 Accounting: General Journal, 8t
- The Unbound Prometheus: Technological Change and Industrial Development in Western Europe from 1750
- All I Could Get
Creating Characters with Personality: For Film, TV, Animation, Video Games, and Graphic Novels
The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation
Storytelling through Animation (Graphics)
Thinking Animation: Bridging the Gap Between 2D and CG
Facial Expressions: A Visual Reference for Artists
